Pump smoking

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J

JSherer

0
Jan 9, 2014
9
Hello all. I had to replace my pool pump over the weekend. Replaced mid-day on Saturday. Everything worked well with no problems. Had to replace due to water leak, which caused bearings to rust in old motor. Replaced seals and thought everything was alright. Noticed some water late Saturday so I shut it down until I could investigate. Cranked it up Sunday morning, and within seconds I smelled a burning smell and the motor started smoking. Immediately shut off. Didn't have a chance to break the motor back down yesterday.

My initial thought has to do with the motor shaft seal. The seal I ordered didn't fit. The piece that fits into the faceplate was too large. So I rigged it up, I used the old piece, but used the new spring piece for the impeller. I'm thinking something might be incompatible here. But why didn't it cause me any problem on Saturday. It ran for 5 or 6 hours without issue on Saturday.

Again, I haven't broken the motor down yet to see if I can tell what was burning, but anybody have any initial ideas. FYI- when I turned it on yesterday, I was able to isolate the water leak, the PVC running from the pump basket to the sand filter. It is leaking at the union, so I'll have to replace that connection and pipe.

Thanks.
 
From the motor being "bad" when purchased? Or did my install screw it up somehow. If I did it, would have thought there would have been an issue Saturday. What would cause it to run normal for the first day, then **** out within a few seconds of being turned on on Sunday. Thanks.
 
I may be describing it incorrectly, but the motor shaft seal was two parts. The part of the face plate (if that's the correct term) that attaches to the actual motor, has a hole in it. Part of the shaft seal goes in that hole. The new seal did not fit, it was too large to go into the hole. So I just kept this portion of the old seal in place. I used the other portion of the new seal, the part that has the spring on it, that goes in between the face plate and the impeller.

Nothing seemed to be binding when it ran on Saturday. The impeller seemed to spin fine by hand. The motor on Saturday did not sound like it was bogged down. Maybe it was a little louder on Sunday, but that's really hard to say as it is brand new and I can't say I'm all that familiar with the sound of the new motor with such short use. Then it started smoking so soon, literally within a few seconds of being turned on.

What would be the best way to figure out what is going on. Can I run the motor without being connected to the rest of the pump for a minute to see if that tells me anything. Or would you just break it down and see if anything looks burnt, bogged down, etc. Thanks.
 
Suggest you post up motor specs and confirm whether motor is 115 or 230. If its 230, verify whether it came set as such from the factory and if it is wired to a double pole breaker that is supplying correct 115v per leg at the pump connection point. One possibility is supplying 115 volts to a 230 motor may get it started, but it will cause it to overheat. Supplying materially less (10%) than 115 per leg will cause same overheating. It takes some time for the motor to suffer damage due to low voltage, how long depends several factors. Basically the motor strains due to low voltage and draws more amps. When the amp draw exceeds the nameplate specs the heat starts building up and the motor can fry itself.

Standard disclaimer - If you don't have the knowledge, experience and tools to test, call an electrician.
 
Most motors these days have thermal limiter switches so if the motor does overheat, it should shut down it's own. This makes me think it might be something else smoking. Are you sure it is the motor?


My initial thought has to do with the motor shaft seal. The seal I ordered didn't fit. The piece that fits into the faceplate was too large. So I rigged it up, I used the old piece, but used the new spring piece for the impeller. I'm thinking something might be incompatible here. But why didn't it cause me any problem on Saturday. It ran for 5 or 6 hours without issue on Saturday.
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That is a really bad idea. You need to get a properly fitting seal and install it correctly. If the motor doesn't have a thermal limiter, then that is probably causing your issue. It may not have failed the first day but could have easily failed the second day.
 
Motor is AO Smith QC1102 1HP 115/230V. It is set running on 115V. Old motor only had high/low voltage selection, and was set on low. Single pole breaker. Consulted with electrician and he agreed to set motor on 115V.

As far as smoke coming from the motor, I didn't let it go long, but the smoke was coming from the area of the shaft seal. Front of the motor at the faceplate, which is why I initially thought the shaft seal.
 
It could very well be the shaft seal. Seal halves are generally not interchangeable unless they are identical seals so it could be rubbing somewhere causing smoke.
 

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Thanks. Ordered another shaft seal, but will break it down sometime soon maybe (thanks time change). I'll report back if it looks like something different than the shaft seal. Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
 
Your first post said you replaced the pump, but evidently, it was only the motor. Apparently, yoy don't get the correct seal kit for your pump. Sounds like you jury rigged the seal. Never a good idea. Hope getting the correct seal will fix it. When my pump went bad, I first hoped for just a replacement motor, but when the installer found the seal plate was cracked too, that made it cost effective to replace the whole pump. Wish you luck in getting it fixed. You may need an "expert" tho.
 
Correct, it was only the motor, I misspoke. A pool company looked at the motor, determined it was bad and gave me a quote for replacement and parts. I used their quote to order the parts. He gave me the wrong part number, which is why it didn't fit. I did rig it up, so that is on me. I have since determined the correct pump, and have ordered a replacement seal based on the correct pump. Hopefully it will work out in the end. Thanks for everyone's responses. This is a very helpful site for someone relatively new to pool ownership.
 
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